


Animal Instinct

by yonnna



Category: Shoujo Kakumei Utena | Revolutionary Girl Utena
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2018-12-10 20:00:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11698887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yonnna/pseuds/yonnna
Summary: Nanami finds a stray dog roaming the campus. Kozue offers a helping a hand, though less to her than to the dog.





	Animal Instinct

Nanami hated walking to class alone.

She hated _being_ alone. She hated not having anyone to voice her petty complaints to when her feet started to ache or her head started to hurt or the sun shone too bright; she hated not having affirmations to fall back on, not being assured that _she ran so fast in gym today — of course she’s tired_ , that _the history test was so hard — of course she has a migraine,_ not being offered a parasol or a shortcut in the shade. She hated silence, more than anything, and hated being unable to fill it by herself.

Nanami hated walking to class alone, but somehow that was exactly what she was doing.

Her usual crowd had dropped off one by one for reasons that did not satisfy her at all: Keiko was “taking a sick day”, Yuuko “had detention”, Aiko was “visiting her mother in hospital” — well, maybe that last one _was_ true, but Nanami could not bring herself to care. She was so livid at the thought of being deserted that she had halfway planned a scheme to give Keiko a _real_ reason to call in sick when it happened.

Barking —

No, _growling_. Just as she rounded the corner, the thing jumped at her like a predator pouncing on its prey, all gnarled teeth and flaring nostrils. It hit her with its full weight and dug its claws into the fabric of her skirt so that she toppled backwards and landed hard on the stone floor. In a less panicked state she would have thought about the bruising on her legs or the dirt on her clothes, but the beast did not loosen its grip and, now inches from her face, she could not think of _anything_. She screamed, with pitch and volume enough that it was a wonder those great glass windows did not shatter.

“Keep it down,” someone hissed, and then the weight was off her and the smell of its mouth away from her nose. She stopped howling long enough to breathe in fresh air, and forced her legs, heavy and stiff as concrete, to move; they shook instead of standing and for lack of good posture she jutted her head up to reclaim her composure.

“— You’re scaring him.”

Kozue glared down at her, cradling the small dog in her arm. He was quiet now, making not so much as a snarl as she ran her hand through his fur. _Typical_. Nanami narrowed her eyes and sneered, “ _I’m_ scaring _him_? That thing attacked me!”

Kozue rolled her eyes.

“He’s a puppy,” she said, smiling wryly and extending a hand to help her up. Nanami ignored her and got to her feet herself, with some effort thanks to her wobbly knees. She brushed herself down and made fast work of fixing her hair.

“He’s a _hound_.”

“I’m starting to think you’ve never seen a dog before.”

“Excuse me? Of course I’ve seen a dog before! I’ve seen plenty of them, and they always — hey!” She grabbed Kozue by the sleeve when she turned from her. “Don’t walk away when I’m speaking to you!”

Kozue twisted her shoulder halfway and pointed sharply to the dog.

“I’m taking him to the animal shelter,” she said, raising her eyebrows as though to question Nanami’s protest.

“He doesn’t belong at an animal shelter! He’s —”

“… An animal?” She pulled her arm free of Nanami’s tightening grip and strode on.

“A _vicious_ animal!”

“You’re the one who seems vicious to me,” she muttered.

Nanami scrambled a few steps forward to walk at her side.

“Fine, don’t listen to me!” she shouted, folding her arms over her chest. “I’ll just come with you and report him myself.”

“Report him, really?” She laughed shortly and turned her head away from Nanami, petting the dog behind his ear and crooning, “You’re a good boy, aren’t you? I’m sorry the mean lady is talking about you like that. You wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

She was smiling warmly; Nanami might have noted the phenomenon if she was not burning with rage.

“What part of _he attacked me_ are you missing?”

“He was trying to play with you,” she said, furrowing her brow. “You just don’t understand him.”

Nanami threw her foot down so hard on her next step that it sent her wincing.

“You’re unbelievable!” she scoffed.

Kozue stopped in her tracks and stared at her for a long moment.

“You have a leaf in your hair,” she said with a sly smile, then continued on her way. While Nanami lept into action, furiously patting down her head until she found the offending object, Kozue resumed speaking with less intent, “Wild animals can tell when you don’t like them, you know.”

Nanami groaned and tossed the leaf aside, wrapping her arms around herself. “So what?”

“They have to react to that,” she explained, shrugging. “To survive. They don’t know whether you’re going to hurt them or run from them, they only know that you _hate_ them — so they react.”

They passed under a bridge. Nanami heard the rush of the river and pursed her lips, trying not to listen for desperate mewling cries on the breeze.

“Who can blame them for that?”

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and focused her gaze on the bricks above her head.

“There’s an animal shelter here?” she asked, curious rather than cutting. “I never knew.”

“The school funded it a few years ago. A lot of the agricultural society volunteer there,” she said, smiling. “I help out every once in a while.”

“How do you…” Nanami started, then trailed off. Kozue slowed her steps and tilted her head, encouraging her to finish the thought. She crinckled her nose, but complied. “How do you let the animals know you _don’t_ hate them?”

“The first step is _not hating them_.” Her glare softened somewhat with laughter. “Try not screaming next time, for starters.”

She let out an indignant huff, but made no argument.

“And then what?” she pressed.

“You could try petting him.”

Nanami almost jumped back, and Kozue recognized the fear on her face.

“Kiryuu,” she said, grinning lopsided. “Don’t tell me you’ve never petted a dog before.”

“Of course I have!” she insisted, voice shrill. Kozue looked skeptical, turning to face her with her eyebrow quirked.

“That so?”

When Nanami said nothing, she took a step forward and gave a nod to the puppy in her arms.

“He won’t bite,” she assured, watching her hand tremble as she reached it out.

“Maybe not _you_ ,” Nanami muttered, throwing one more sharp look her way before letting her pride overcome her nerves and patting the dog softly on the head.

He did not bite — or growl, or claw. She jolted when he barked, but calmed when Kozue laughed.

“There, see?” she said. “He’s not too bad, right? I don’t think he’s used to being around people yet, but he’ll get there.”

She began walking again. Nanami dragged her feet and followed. After a few minutes she looked over her shoulder.

“You’re still going to report him?”  

— And Nanami thought for a moment, staring down at her scuffed shoes.

“Not this time,” she answered at length. “But I’m still coming with you. You owe me.”

“Owe you what?”

“Information!” she demanded. “On how to… How to…”

“Not be attacked by animals?” She grinned. “I can do that.”


End file.
